6.  The applicant was born in 1964 and lives in the village of Serzhen-Yurt, the Chechen Republic.
7.  The applicant lived with her husband, Mr Sharani Askharov (born in 1956), at 106 Sheripova Street in the village of Serzhen-Yurt. The applicant is a housewife, and her husband was a lorry driver. Together they had two daughters, one of whom is away from home for long periods of time for medical reasons. In the same courtyard there are five houses; the four others are owned by the applicant’s husband’s brothers and their families.
8.  According to the applicant, early in the morning of 18 May 2001 a “sweeping operation” (зачистка) took place in Serzhen-Yurt. At about 5 a.m. a group of armed men wearing masks and dressed in camouflage broke into the applicant’s home and entered the room where the applicant, her husband and their 12-year-old daughter were sleeping. The applicant was forced by a man armed with a sub-machine gun to stand against the wall in the hall, while other men held her husband down in another room. The applicant describes the men as well-built, tall and speaking unaccented Russian. One of them was, in her estimation, 40-45 years old. They did not introduce themselves, show any identification or ask anyone for identity documents, nor did they ask any questions. When the applicant asked them what they wanted and who they were looking for they told her to be quiet. The soldiers put a sack over Mr Sharani Askharov’s head and took him outside into the courtyard. The applicant was prevented from following. The applicant’s account of the events is supported by statements by three eyewitnesses.
9.  The soldiers proceeded to another house in the same courtyard, and brought out one of the applicant’s husband’s brothers, Mr Yunus Askharov. They pulled a T-shirt over his head and put him into an armoured personnel carrier (APC). They also detained Mr Sharani Askharov’s nephew, Mr Aslan Askharov, born in 1974.
10.  Mr Yunus Askharov, who was later released, explained that his T-shirt was thin and that he could see that he was in the same APC as his brother Sharani. He tried to talk to his brother, but a sack was put over his head too, and the detainees were forbidden to talk and were beaten with rifle butts if they attempted to.
11.  The neighbours later told the applicant that they had noted the license plate numbers of two APCs that took part in the sweeping operation as 714 and 224. They also noted the plate numbers of the Ural military truck as 76-46 VA. There were also other vehicles, at least two other APCs, but their number plates were obscured with mud.
12.  The applicant submitted that in the same sweeping operation nine men had been detained in Serzhen-Yurt. Two of them, including the applicant’s husband, had disappeared. Mr Aslan Askharov, her nephew, had been found dead with bullet wounds later on 18 May 2001 on the outskirts of the village. Six others had been released on 18 and 19 May 2004, after having been subjected to interrogations accompanied by beatings and torture.
13.  The applicant submitted written statements by Mr Yunus Askharov and Mr M. R., who were released on 18 May 2004. According to their statements, the APCs carrying the detainees drove for several hours. The men inside remained blindfolded and their hands were tied tightly behind their backs. On several occasions the vehicles stopped, the detainees were dragged out, beaten, tortured and then pulled back inside. Mr Yunus Askharov was asked questions about the Chechen fighters and their bases. At some point he heard his brother answering about himself that he was 46 years old and a truck driver. He therefore concluded that his brother was still with them. After one interrogation he heard someone say: “those – to the pit, those – to the car,” indicating a separation of the group. At about 2 p.m. five men, including Mr Yunus Askharov, were dumped in a field by an old petrol station between the villages of Serzhen-Yurt and Shali. Their hands were freed but they were told to lie still. After the military had left, the men freed themselves and Yunus realised that his brother Sharani was not among them. The detainees had been so severely beaten that some of them were unable to move. The next day Mr Yunus Askharov was admitted to Shali Hospital, where he remained for a month.
14.  The applicant submitted copies of medical certificates issued to two other men detained on 18 May 2001: Mr M. S. and Mr M. R., whom the hospital doctors had diagnosed with concussion, fractured ribs, numerous bruises and haematomas to the face, neck, back and torso. Witnesses also testified that their teeth had been pulled out with pliers.
15.  On the same day, on 18 May 2001, the applicant’s nephew, Mr Aslan Askharov, was found dead on the outskirts of the village with gunshot wounds. On 3 June 2001 a doctor of the Serzhen-Yurt medical station issued a death certificate for Mr Aslan Askharov: born in 1974, died on 18 May 2001 in Serzhen-Yurt of gunshot wounds.
16.  Another person detained in Serzhen-Yurt on 18 May 2001, a 14-year-old boy, was released the following day, on 19 May 2001. He told the applicant and her sister that he had been taken to a military base blindfolded, and that he had understood that the applicant’s husband and another man from their village, Mr A. S., were also there.
17.  The applicant submitted several witness statements by her neighbours and by other men who had been detained on 18 May 2001 about the “sweeping” operation and about the treatment of the detainees.
18.  The applicant and other members of her family have had no news of Mr Sharani Askharov since 19 May 2001.
19.  The Government submitted that the Prosecutor General’s Office had established that on 18 May 2001 at around 6 a.m. unidentified persons in camouflage and masks, armed with automatic weapons and accompanied by armoured vehicles, had entered Serzhen-Yurt and apprehended Mr Sharani Askharov, Mr Yunus Askharov, Mr A. S., Mr M. S., Mr M. R., Mr Z. Z., Mr T. Z. and Mr R. Z. and had taken them to an unknown destination. On the same date Mr Aslan Askharov, who had been a member of an illegal armed group, had died in the village in unclear circumstances. On the evening of 18 May 2001 those apprehended had been released, with the exception of Mr Sharani Askharov and Mr A. S., whose whereabouts had not been established.
20.  The applicant submitted two newspaper cuttings of May 2001. On 22 May 2001 the Moscow-based Kommersant published an article entitled “Khattab’s Friend and Dudayev’s Assistant are Killed”. The article said:
“In the Shali district of Chechnya the federal forces carried out a special operation directed against the leaders of bandit groups. Last weekend, during that operation in Serzhen-Yurt, Sharani Askharov was killed. According to intelligence information, he was a well-known explosives expert and a close friend of one of the extremists’ leaders, Khattab; he played the most active part in the activities of the illegal armed groups. In the same village the federal forces killed [S.], the chief of the criminal police during the reign of Dudayev, who had maintained close ties with the current leaders of bandit groups”.
21.  On 26 May 2001 the Moscow-based Nezavisimaya Gazeta published its regular update on the conflict in Chechnya, covering events between 12 and 25 May 2001. It reported that “on 19-20 May 2001 in Serzhen-Yurt, Shali district, a targeted special operation took place, as a result of which Sharani Askharov, a well-known explosives expert and a close friend of Khattab, and [A. S.], former chief of the criminal police in Dudayev’s time, who had maintained ties with the current field commanders, were killed.”
22.  In April 2002 the NGO Human Rights Watch issued a report entitled “Last seen ... Continued disappearances in Chechnya”. It describes the sweeping operation in Serzhen-Yurt on 18 May 2001 and lists Mr Sharani Askharov as “disappeared”. It also describes the ill-treatment suffered by the other detainees who were later released.
23.  According to the applicant, she started looking for her husband immediately after his detention, together with relatives of Mr A. S. For some days after 18 May 2001 the applicant, with Mr A. S.’s sister, went to Shali to be near the military commander’s office. After three days the women were informed by the commander that their relatives had been detained there for some time, but had then been demanded by a higher authority and transferred elsewhere. The commander did not tell them where the men had been taken.
24.  On numerous occasions, both in person and in writing, the applicant applied to prosecutors at various levels, to the Ministry of the Interior, to the administrative authorities and to public figures. In particular, she applied on 10 July 2001 to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Chechen Republic, on 3 October 2001 and 21 January 2002 to the Prosecutor General, and on 13 December 2001 to the Shali District Prosecutor’s Office. In her initial applications she stated the details of her husband’s abduction, listed the license plate numbers of the military vehicles that had participated in the operation, and asked for a criminal investigation into her husband’s abduction to be opened. In her subsequent applications she asked for an update on the progress of the investigation. The applicant received hardly any substantive information from official bodies about the investigation into her husband’s disappearance. On several occasions she was sent copies of letters by which her requests had been forwarded to different prosecutors’ services.
25.  On 24 May 2001 a group of villagers of Serzhen-Yurt (over 50 persons) signed a petition to the Shali district temporary department of the interior (VOVD) administration, prosecutor and the military commander. They asked for the reasons for Mr Sharani Askharov’s detention to be investigated and for him to be released.
26.  According to the Government, up to August 2001 the prosecuting authorities of the Chechen Republic had received no complaints from relatives of the persons abducted on 18 May 2001.
27.  On 14 August 2001 the Shali District Prosecutor’s Office instituted criminal proceedings in case no. 23185 into the abduction of Mr A. S. His wife, Mrs I., was granted victim status on 20 August 2001.
28.  On 30 August 2001 the Department for Legal Affairs and Military Liaison of the Chechen Government informed the applicant that her complaints had been transferred to the Chechen Department of the Interior for a search to be organised, and to the military prosecutor of military unit no. 20102 for a criminal investigation to be carried out.
29.  On 15 October 2001 the Shali District Prosecutor’s Office instituted criminal proceedings in case no. 23261 regarding the abduction of Mr Sharani Askharov by a group of persons (Article 126 (2) of the Criminal Code).
30.  On 16 October 2001 the Shali District Prosecutor’s Office informed the applicant that her husband’s abduction was under investigation by that office. The letter contained no other details.
31.  On 19 October 2001 the military prosecutor of military unit no. 20102 informed the applicant that her letter had been sent to the military prosecutor of military unit no. 20116 based in Shali.
32.  According to the Government, on 20 October 2001 the applicant was granted victim status in criminal proceedings no. 23261. She was questioned on the same date and stated that her husband had been taken from his home together with his brother, Mr Yunus Askharov, at around 6 a.m. on 18 May 2001 by persons dressed in camouflage and wearing masks. Later she had learnt that other villagers had been apprehended too, but unlike her husband and Mr A. S. they had been released on the same day. She did not know the whereabouts of her husband or Mr A. S.
33.  On 29 December 2001 the applicant was informed by the Shali District Prosecutor’s Office of the institution on 15 October 2001 of criminal proceedings no. 23261 regarding her husband’s abduction. The letter further informed the applicant of the name of the investigator in charge of the case and invited her to study the case file.
34.  On 2 July 2002 the investigator of the Shali District Prosecutor’s Office issued the following progress report in case no. 23261:
“On 18 May 2001 Mr. Sharani Vakhayevich Askharov, born in 1956, was detained and taken to an unknown destination by unidentified servicemen, during the conduct of a special operation, from his permanent residence at 106 Sheripova Street, Serzhen-Yurt, Shali district. So far his whereabouts have not been established. On 15 October 2001 the Shali District Prosecutor’s Office opened criminal investigation no. 23261 regarding this event, under Article 126 (2) of the Criminal Code. On 15 December 2001 the criminal investigation was suspended because the culprits could not be identified. Nonetheless the search for the abducted person continues.”
35.  According to the applicant, she did not receive any further update on the investigation.
36.  The Government submitted the following information concerning the progress of the investigation.
37.  On 27 June 2005 criminal investigation no. 23261 regarding the abduction of Mr Sharani Askharov was joined with criminal investigation no. 23185 into the abduction of Mr A. S. and with a criminal investigation regarding the death of Mr Aslan Askharov.
38.  On an unspecified date relatives of other persons apprehended on 18 May 2001 were questioned. They made statements similar to that of the applicant. Two women, Ms K. A. and Ms S. A, apparently relatives of Mr Sharani Askharov and Mr Aslan Askharov, stated that Mr Aslan Askharov had been a member of an illegal armed group. On 18 May 2001 he left the house, trying to hide from the people who had arrived in the village. Later they had heard shooting and in the evening his body had been found on the outskirts of the village.
39.  On 17 January 2005 Mr Yunus Askharov was granted victim status. He was questioned on 17 January and 12 June 2005. According to the Government, he had been summoned for questioning on several occasions earlier but had failed to appear. Mr Yunus Askharov confirmed the circumstances of his abduction by unknown persons and submitted that he had been beaten by them, but that he would not be able to identify them. On the afternoon of 18 May 2001 the unidentified persons had left him and the other villagers on the outskirts of the village and they had returned home by themselves. Mr Yunus Askharov did not confirm that he had been tortured or that his teeth had been pulled out, nor did he confirm that he had been taken to the military base.
40.  On an unspecified date Mr Yunus Askharov underwent a medical examination. According to the results of the examination he had sustained insignificant injuries (легкий вред здоровью).
41.  Mr Z. Z., Mr T. Z. and Mr R. Z., questioned on an unspecified date, submitted that neither they nor Mr M. R. had been beaten following their abduction.
42.  It appeared impossible to question Mr M. R. since he had left the Chechen Republic. However, his relative, Ms H. R., submitted that he had not had any injuries when he had returned home.
43.  It also appeared impossible to question Mr M. S. since he had been absent from his place of residence. The results of a medical examination conducted on an unspecified date showed that he had sustained significant injuries (вред здоровью средней тяжести).
44.  Ms R. M., the applicant’s neighbour, was questioned on an unspecified date. She submitted that at the end of May 2001 unidentified servicemen dressed in camouflage accompanied by armoured vehicles had abducted seven residents of Serzhen-Yurt. Later that day some of the abducted men had been found on the outskirts of Serzhen-Yurt. Then Mr Aslan Askharov’s body had been found on the outskirts of the village.
45.  On an unspecified date a forensic examination was conducted so as to establish the cause of death of Mr Aslan Askharov. Since his body was not exhumed, the examination was conducted on the basis of medical documents. The exact cause of death as well as the nature of the injuries could not be established. Nor was a connection established between the actions of the unidentified servicemen and Mr Aslan Askharov’s death.
46.  The investigation failed to establish the whereabouts of Mr Sharani Askharov and Mr A. S. The investigating authorities sent requests for information to the competent State agencies on 2 and 11 November 2001, 30 April and 22 December 2003, and 23 December 2004. However, it was not established that servicemen had been involved in the offence. Neither Mr Sharani Askharov nor Mr A. S. had been held in either criminal detention or administrative detention facilities.
47.  According to the information of the Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the United Group Alignment (UGA), no operations had been conducted in respect of Mr Sharani Askharov and Mr A. S. and they had not been detained. The vehicles which the applicant claimed had been used in the offence did not belong to the above authorities.
48.  The investigation in case no. 23261 had been suspended a number of times on account of a failure to identify persons to be charged with the offence. The most recent decision to suspend the investigation was quashed on 6 June 2005 and the investigation was taken up by the Shali District Prosecutor’s Office.
49.  According to the Government, the applicant had been informed of all the suspensions and resumptions. The information published in Kommersant and Nezavisimaya Gazeta was being checked.
50.  Despite a specific request by the Court, the Government did not submit a copy of the file in criminal case no. 23261. They submitted nineteen pages of case-file materials containing certain decisions to resume the investigation and to grant victim status and copies of notifications sent to the applicant. The Government stated that the investigation was in progress and that disclosure of the documents would be in violation of Article 161 of the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure, since the file contained information of a military nature and personal data concerning the witnesses or other participants in the criminal proceedings.